Home to Harlem · Chapter
A Farewell Feed explained
Ray and Grant prepare to leave Harlem for a freighter job heading to Australia and Europe.
What happens
Ray and Grant prepare to leave Harlem for a freighter job heading to Australia and Europe. Ray reflects on his dissatisfaction with railroad life and his fear of settling down in Harlem. Jake hosts a farewell dinner at Aunt Hattie's cookshop, paid for by Billy Biasse. The group shares a meal, drinks, and conversation about education, friendship, and the future. After the dinner, they go to Uncle Doc's and Leroy's Cabaret. The next afternoon, Ray leaves on the freighter as a mess boy.
Themes in this chapter
Displacement and Wandering
Ray's decision to leave Harlem and his reflections on the railroad life highlight the theme of restlessness and the search for a place to belong.
Education and Intellectualism
Ray and Jake discuss the value and burden of education, with Jake wishing he were educated and Ray questioning its usefulness.
Harlem Renaissance Culture
The chapter celebrates Harlem's food, jazz, and social life, while Ray reflects on its music and 'blues' as a key to his identity.
Characters to notice
- Ray
Leaving Harlem for a freighter job; reflects on his fear of settling down and his complex feelings about Harlem.
- Jake Brown
Hosts a farewell feed for Ray; expresses a wish for education and affection for Ray.
- Billy Biasse
Pays for the farewell feed; shares a drink and conversation with the group.
- Aunt Hattie
Provides the meal at her cookshop and shows fondness for Jake.
- James Grant
Mentioned as having found a job on the freighter with Ray.
Key passages
“He had had enough to vomit up of Philadelphia and Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Washington. More than enough of the bar-to-bar camaraderie of railroad life.”
Ray was thoroughly disgusted with the cities he had visited and the constant socializing of railroad work.
Ray's exhaustion with his current life.
“Soon he would become one of the contented hogs in the pigpen of Harlem, getting ready to litter little black piggies.”
He feared he would settle into a comfortable but unambitious life in Harlem, raising a family.
Ray's fear of complacency.
“No happy-nigger strut for me, he would mutter, when the feeling for Agatha worked like a fever in his flesh.”
He refused to adopt a carefree, stereotypical demeanor, especially when his feelings for Agatha tempted him to stay.
Ray's resistance to societal expectations.
“Life burned in Ray perhaps more intensely than in Jake. Ray felt more and his range was wider and he could not be satisfied with the easy, simple things that sufficed for Jake.”
Ray had a deeper and more complex emotional life than Jake, and simple pleasures were not enough for him.
Contrast between Ray and Jake's temperaments.
“Blues … melancholy-comic. That was the key to himself and to his race.”
Ray believed the blues, with its mix of sadness and humor, captured the essence of his own and his people's spirit.
Ray's understanding of his cultural identity.
“A seaman's life is no good, chappie, and it's easier to jump off a train in the field than offn a ship gwine across the pond.”
Jake warns Ray that leaving a ship is harder than leaving a train, implying the sea is a more serious commitment.
Jake's practical advice to Ray.
